Plans to convert Leather Museum proceed despite campaigning efforts

Walsall Council has moved forward with plans to convert a building which currently houses the Walsall Leather Museum into a special needs facility.

The museum has been based at a Victorian leather factory building on Littleton Street West since it opened in 1988. It was converted from a restored 19th-century factory into the museum by the council at that time.

Plans for the move were floated by the council last year, proposing that the museum and its collections are relocated. An alternative location has not been announced in the newly submitted planning application.

Councillor Adrian Andrew, Deputy Leader of Walsall Council said last year that it was “committed to relocating Walsall Leather Museum to a more prominent and accessible location within Walsall town centre”.

The plans would see the former museum used for the new Walsall Assisted Learning Centre. The planning application argues that the museum’s current activities and the proposed educational facility fall within the same planning class for schools, galleries, museums, libraries, halls or churches.

No external changes to the buildings on-site are proposed as part of the application.

The move comes despite campaigning to keep the museum in its current location. A petition with over 3,300 signatures opposing the move was launched by Lauren Broxton in 2025. It called for the proposed relocation to be scrapped, in favour of a public consultation on the plans.

Broxton, a leather designer, told Advisor last year that campaigning had “consumed [her] life”.

“We are talking about 400 years of history and a unique cultural identity that cannot be replicated anywhere else. I don’t regret a single minute spent on the campaign, all-consuming as it has been,” Broxton said.

‘It consumed my life’: What it takes to campaign for a museum

The council is expected to make a decision on the proposal next month.